


Been a while

by MoodleNoodle



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, But also I have a high angst tolerance so who knows, Chinen Miya is a Good Friend, Hurt/Comfort, It made my betareaders cry so-, M/M, Oblivious Hasegawa Langa, Years Later
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:01:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29663517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoodleNoodle/pseuds/MoodleNoodle
Summary: “You know this is your own fault, Langa.""I told you to get a new board and you didn’t listen, now it’s broken beyond repair.”“I can’t just get a new one.. Reki made mine to fit my skating style. He’s the only one that knows how to make it and he moved away right after High School..”Or, years later Professional Skateboarder Snow's board breaks so he's forced to get a new one. But why does the Mechanic remind him so much of Reki?Idk man, I'm bad at summaries
Relationships: Hasegawa Langa/Kyan Reki
Comments: 6
Kudos: 271





	Been a while

**Author's Note:**

> Just to clarify, the way his board is the nail came out forcefully at an unfortunate angle so the wheels basically got ripped out by physics
> 
> But if we're being honest, it was just plot

**“And Snow enters his last 30 seconds! Unbelievable folks can you believe the speed he’s going at! Wait what’s happening?! It seems the wheels have broken off of his board! Looks like Snow won’t be finishing this competition!”**

-

“You know this is your own fault, Langa.” Adam stared judgingly at the younger. Ever since Reki left S, Langa had nothing stopping him from learning under Adam. It was practically hell on earth but it certainly helped, considering Langa is now one of the top Skateboarders in the nation. “I told you to get a new board and you didn’t listen, now it’s broken beyond repair.”

“I can’t just get a new one.. Reki made mine to fit my skating style. He’s the only one that knows how to make it and he moved away right after High School..”

Adam only huffed in annoyance.

“Ah yes, that little lowelife you used to spend time with. No matter, there’s a simple solution for this.”

“You know where Reki is??” 

“I know of the best skateboard mechanic, Blaze. Reportedly, he just needs to look at the board and he figures out what the boarder needs without being told.”

Langa lowered his gaze back to his broken board. “It feels like I’m betraying Reki by going to someone else for my board.”

“Oh please you haven’t talked to him in years, you two are practically strangers now. No harm in doing what you need to.”

“I… I suppose so.”

-

Langa stood in front of a relatively normal looking house. He looked at the address Adam sent and back at the house. It seems to be the right place?

Walking up to the front door he had barely gotten a knock in when the door swung open to reveal a man wearing large tinted goggles with his red hair tied back with a bandana. His attire was covered with paint and black smudges, from his overalls to gloves.

Now Langa wouldn’t say he’s an easily scared person, but getting greeted like that definitely sent him stumbling back a few steps with a silent scream.

“Are you the boarder Mr.Shindo set an appointment for today?”

Langa nodded, still a bit shell shocked.

“Grab your board and come inside then. I don’t have all day, I’m a busy man.”

The workshop turned out to just be the basement, skateboards lined the walls alongside boxes upon boxes of spare parts. Now it could be the new location, but Langa could’ve sworn he’s been in a similar workshop before.

“Snow.”

That snapped Langa back to reality. “Yes?”

“Can you hand over your old board so I know what I need to focus on?” Blaze asked, holding an ungloved hand towards the pro. Langa hurriedly took out his old board, eyes softening seeing the Yeti pattern he protested against all those years ago.

The mechanic looked over the broken board, his expression unreadable behind the goggles.

“So? Can you fix it or make a new one?”

“Fixing this would be impossible.” Langa held in his disappointment. “But I can make a new one for you. It’ll take some tweaking since I haven’t made this unique of a board since High School but I can definitely do it.”

_ This unique of a board since High School...? _

“Do you want an exact replica of this? Cause it won’t hold up based on your current style?”

“What do you mean?”

“Since you’ve gone pro, you’ve been leaning more often on your heels than your toes like before. If you keep going at this momentum, the wheels are gonna just pop off. Like you can see here. I’m surprised this board even lasted this long.” He explained, carefully test spinning one of the wheels.

Langa nodded along, this was reminiscent of when Reki upgraded his boards.

“You’re really good at this..- Wait, since I’ve gone pro? How do you know my style from before going pro?”

Blaze stared at Langa in silence for an uncomfortable amount of time. His mouth shifted from a tremble to a pained smile before eventually letting out an agonizing laugh. He gripped his goggles, shoulders shaking from the force of the laughing.

“Hahaha...Ha..Ha..” He mouthed something to himself before looking at Langa with a smile too wide to be real. “I… used to attend S all the time. Watched all your early beefs.”

“Eh really? But I never saw you at S before.”

“I…” There was that smile again. “I lacked skateboarding talent and got overshadowed by a friend, people came to know me as some loser who hung around the big fish. I couldn’t take it anymore and left.”

“Blaze..”

“It’s fine! Since I left I made a name for myself as a mechanic, much better off than before…” Another minute of silence. “Back to business! So you fine with the board being changed to something more durable? I’ll keep the rest the same so you can still do your snowboarding style but otherwise everything will be the same.”

“Yeah I’m fine with that.”

“Great!” Blaze handed the board back to Langa. “My next appointment is gonna be arriving soon, I’ll have your board done in 3-5 days. Would you rather I message you directly or go through Mr.Shindo?”

“Directly. Should I give you my number then?-”

“It’s fine! I’ll get it from Cherry or Joe.”

“You’re friends with Cherry and Jo-?”

_ Knock Knock Knock _

“That would be my next appointment, can you see yourself out? I need to grab his board from the back room and he’s a regular so he’ll know to lock the door behind him.”

“Sure thing.”

If Langa was being honest, Blaze was a lot more friendly than he expected. Though he did remind him of Reki.

**_You and I aren’t-_ **

Langa paused for a moment remembering why he never bothered to search for his friend. Sucking in a breath, he opened the front door to leave only to find Blaze’s next appointment to be none other than Miya. The teenager seemed surprised to see him there, how’d he miss the news coverage of his broken board?

He really feels like he missed something if even Miya knows Blaze.

“Long time no see, I didn’t expect you to be Blaze’s Regular Miya, isn’t your board pretty simple?”

“Long time no see.. Snow.” The bitterness was expected, Miya was pretty pissed at Langa for letting Reki leave without doing anything. “My board may be simple but that doesn’t mean I don’t take it to get regular tunings- Wait what did you call him?”

“Blaze?”

Miya stared silently at Langa, blinking slowly. His lip trembled as laughter spilled out uncontrollably.

“Pftt hahahaha! No wonder you’re so calm! You didn’t even realize-” Miya didn’t even make it through the sentence before laughing again.

“What?” Langa cautiously asked.

“You absolute IDIOT!” Miya, despite his short stature, yanked Langa down by the collar. Anger written all over his face. “No wonder Reki left you if you were this oblivious! Do you need everything to be explained to you to get it through your thick skull??”

“I-”

**“Hey, could you two not fight right in front of my house?”**

Miya immediately let go of Langa, shoving him to the side. A smile immediately in place of the glare.

“I would never. Is my board ready?”

“All set. Be thankful it’s just scratched. That last trick would’ve snapped the board clean in half if you were any heavier.” Blaze handed the board over to the teenager, who immediately looked it over.

“If I break it, I would just commission a new board.”

“Yeah right, you wouldn’t be able to afford my commission costs.”

“Y’know you could do that trick too if you just followed the diet plan I gave you.”

“I don’t skate anymore, you know this.”

“For a bullshit reason, but yeah I guess.” He turned, jogging off the property. “Come watch my beef tonight Reki! I might need to level up my gear!”

“As I tell you everytime you ask, I’m not going!” Reki called back with an amused grin. Langa stared wide eyed at the man. Oh god, he really IS an idiot. All those signs and it took Miya saying it out loud.

“Reki?”

“Shit, forgot you’re still here.” Reki brought a hand up to his face, pushing his goggles up past his hairline. He turned towards the pro boarder, smile too wide to be real. Langa felt his breath hitch seeing his highschool friend’s face again. 

“It’s been a while huh Langa?”

“...Yeah.. It has…” An awkward silence filled the air, neither of the two dared to make a move. In the end Reki did. He always made the first move, when they became friends, when they got Langa a job, when he went their separate ways. 

“Come on in, make yourself at home while I cancel the rest of my appointments for the day.”

-

“You moved back to Okinawa? When?”

“Last year, the engineering school I got accepted in was in Kyoto and had a dormitory so I moved over there till I got my degree.” Reki plopped down on the chair opposite of Langa. With his goggles and overalls off he looked more like the Reki Langa remembered. Casual and laid back… He looked happier too, though the last time he got a good look at Reki’s face was that rainy night...

**_I’m scared_ **

**_You and Adam are nothing like me_ **

**_I can’t keep up_ **

**_You and I... aren’t a good match anymore_ **

“Are you.. Enjoying your work?”

Reki looked up at that, a confused yet amused smile on his face.

“What kind of question is that? Course I enjoy my work.” Reki fidgeted with his thumbs, his eyes focused a little too hard on the wooden coffee table. “It’s… the closest I can get to skating without… actually skating. It’s what I know best... But knowing only gets you so far.”

“Reki…”

“Knowing won’t let me soar like you, do precise tricks like Miya or go uphill like Adam.” A pained smile stretching too wide. “So I settled for making the boards that can help the ones with talent.”

“Ones with talent.. Reki is that how you’ve been viewing things?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I’m just the ‘Redhead who hung around Snow’, don’t you remember what I told you earlier? Blaze exists because Reki couldn’t take the pressure to catch up.”

“But you loved skateboarding. It was your passion.”

“A passion that leads to nowhere, a canary can’t fly alongside hawks and eagles Langa.”

“But you’re not-”

“A canary should stay at home.”

“You aren’t-”

“Locked behind the iron bars of the cage.”

“Reki-”

“Watching the raptors soar…”

“REKI!” Langa reached over the table grasping Reki’s hands in his own,  _ (like he should have done years ago) _ . The shorter man immediately looked up at the contact, his golden eyes locking with bright blue ones. “Did you have fun skating?"

"O-Of course I did…"

"Then why did you stop?"

"B-Because I would only dragged you down-"

**"Don't lie."**

"I'm not lying! I would've held you back and you know it!-"

**"Don't lie."**

"I would've..!" Blue eyes stared intensely in his. "I… I stopped because it was too straining to keep up… Everyone was charging ahead up a mountain I couldn't climb… Even you.. I…"

His eyes watered, years worth of tears falling down onto their joined hands.

"I didn't want to see you go so far that you would eventually choose to leave me behind.. So I cut ties first… Went down a different path so I wouldn’t have to worry about seeing you farther down the path at a distance I could never reach at my pace…" He choked as each heart wrenching word was forced out.  **_"I'm so sorry Langa… I ran away like a coward… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"_ **

Langa brought a hand up to Reki’s face, wiping a tear away. Changing to the seat next to the redhead, he pulled the mechanic into a firm hug. The shorter crying into the crook of his neck. Multiple times Langa heard Reki sucked in a breath trying to stop. In the end he only got choked up and cried even louder. The sound was agonizing and only made Langa hold the redhead closer.

"It's okay. I forgive you. Let it all out, I won't leave you. I wasn't going to then, and I definitely won't now."

**Author's Note:**

> They went to watch Miya's beef after, people freaked out seeing Blaze and Snow at S.
> 
> -
> 
> Episode 7 killed me, then one of the betareaders I rewatched Sk8 with so that's nice.
> 
> I had a love confession originally planned out but it was too cheesy so I scrapped it. Let's assume they get together in the future someday.
> 
> I know nothing about skateboarding, I'm just a lowly artist who sits in front of a computer all day shipping gay men don't hurt me plz.
> 
> Away I go, back to trying to finish that one TOG ff I started writing but never finished cause fandom dolphin :,D


End file.
